SMITHFIELD — First came the gongs. Slow and steady like the ticks of a clock.

Gong. Gong. Gong.

Then came the dragon.

About as long as a lunch table and covered with feather boas and metallic garland, the dragon zigged and zagged its way through the cafetorium at William Winsor Elementary School yesterday before spilling out into the hallway to lead students to class.

The Chinese New Year offered a perfect platform for the school to begin introducing some aspects of Chinese language and culture in preparation for the opening of the schools’ Confucius classroom — a partnership with Bryant University and the government of China to introduce Americans to the country, said Principal Bridget Morisseau.

“If we can celebrate and tie in learning and get kids excited about something, that’s the hook,” she said. “Everything else we try to teach from that point on, they’re already excited. In the hallway afterwards, I heard kids saying, ‘That was awesome,’ ‘That was great.’ They were excited and didn’t realize how much they learned over the last month. That’s the key to educating kids, getting them motivated about learning.”

The school expects to offer its first afterschool enrichment class through the program this spring, Morisseau said. Ultimately, they will create classroom kits on basic aspects of Chinese language and culture that schools throughout the district can borrow and integrate into a specific lesson, she said. Students in the program will also be able to videoconference with a partner school in China as time goes on.

The Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar. This year, the festival began on Jan. 26 and will officially end on Monday, 15 days after it began. Each Chinese year corresponds with 1 of 12 animals of the zodiac. This is the year of the ox. Members of the dance group from the Renmin University of China — which will be performing at a celebration tonight — stopped by the school for a visit. Students spent the last month learning about the country and its culture for yesterday’s celebration, which fourth grader Juliana Rivelli said she enjoyed.

“It was interesting to see what they do differently,” said Juliana, 9. “It was very exciting. It was the biggest celebration I’ve had. Bigger than the 100th day of school. This was the most exciting.”

From the looks of things, she wasn’t the only one. Students gladly wore traditional Chinese attire to represent the types of dress found among some of the 55 ethnic groups in the country, and paraded on stage for a fashion show. They read from giant postcards detailing the geography of various regions in China, recited proverbs from philosopher Confucius, and examined the differences in various types of Chinese architecture. And, they danced.

“Come on, girls,” said Dongni Wan, a student at Bryant University who had just performed Dance in the Rain as a part of the assembly. It was time for some of the students to learn a piece of the dance, too. Sixteen girls popped up from their seats on the floor and ran to the stage.

Wan curled her left arm above her head and instructed them to do the same.

“One, point, two, point,” she said, stepping in place and pointing her foot down toward the ground as the girls followed step.

Morisseau said she hopes the students walked away yesterday with more than a few new dance moves.

“I hope it gave them the opportunity to learn about another culture,” Morisseau said. “To learn there is so much more beyond Smithfield, beyond Rhode Island, beyond the United States, and to gain some appreciation for that diversity.”

tbuford@projo.com